Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Dear Friends,

Here is my take on "Be The One" - a song which was mostly composed on Chris' Photon bass. I tried to reconstruct Chris' parts and figure out especially which tuning was used, as it was a very important part or even the basis for the whole composition.

Miguel

GREAT cover!!!!
I have some questions.......

1. What kind of bass are you using here??? 4 or 5 string??

2. You're getting a nice "Piccolo" bass sound----What strings are on it...Bass or piccolo strings???

3. What is the Gauge and tuning???


Nice job!!!!
Greg

Ok...I OBVIOUSLY missed the words "Photon Piccolo bass" in the title when I first viewed this.
AND, on my home computer screen it was hard to see if your bass was 4 or 5 strings. Appears to be a 5 string....yes???

So the questions that remain are: What model bass?
Are you using Piccolo strings??
Gauge and tuning??

Sorry for my dumbness
Greg

Lefty4003S8 wrote:Ok...I OBVIOUSLY missed the words "Photon Piccolo bass" in the title when I first viewed this.
AND, on my home computer screen it was hard to see if your bass was 4 or 5 strings. Appears to be a 5 string....yes???

So the questions that remain are: What model bass?
Are you using Piccolo strings??
Gauge and tuning??

Sorry for my dumbness
Greg

Hi Greg!

It's a 4 string old Eko bass from a friend. The original G machine head must have been broken so my friend installed a standard fender type machine head on the lower headstock. Looks kind of cool The model name might be "Cobra". Eko is an italian manufacturer that used to be relatively popular here in the 60s-70s when Fenders were rare and expensive.

It's a medium-short scale bass which I thought would be suitable for a piccolo setup.
The strings are the D'addario exl280 (piccolo bass strings) and the tuning is my own, which I believe it's Chris' own. D B flat D G.

I am planning to try to make a video explaining some details of this bass/song but I am still not sure if I can manage to do that sort of video.

Thanks!

Miguel

Hey Miguel,

Thank You for the info.
I am ALWAYS impressed by your playing and the sounds you get.

While I've been able to replicate SOME of Chris Squire's bass lines, I never had to technical ability to REALLY capture his style and sound.
You HAVE all that, and it is amazing!!!!!!

Greg

Thank you very much, Greg!

Miguel

Miguel!

What a great choice of songs! I always learn things from your videos but sometimes you clue me into things I had no idea about. This one is right up there with the one you did of the "Rickenbacker kiss" video (that covers the last, sublime moments of "Fish Out of Water"). In this case, I had NO idea that all of these lines were Chris on a piccolo bass...I assumed it was Maestro Howe on a baritone guitar. What an insight!

As I often say, perhaps the best thing about your projects is that I am motivated to play more by watching you; but almost as valuable is learning new things about Chris' mastery and appreciating his pieces even more. Today you achieved both!

You are amazing, my friend! Thank you for sharing this with us.